LSU is tough to peg right now for understandable reasons. I do suspect some are ranking it based on the schedule they see and not how good they think the team is likely to be. Definite questions on offense. What else is new. The defense should be somewhere between "really good" and "amazing." I don't know how much actual analysis people are doing on personnel and how much is "Didn't they just lose to Troy?" (Which is understandable, when that happens, you earn whatever disrespect you feel you're garnering.)
My biggest question is can Orgeron be a good (great?) gameday coach? He does a lot of good things in prep and other areas, but he often feels Meh as far as a sideline presence to correct real-time problems. His HC record is still a suspicious entity at this point.
I'm optimistic they'll beat the 7-5 many are giving them, despite the schedule. They'll be markedly better on both LOS this year, it's a team that just went 9-4, narrowly missed 11-2, achieved a 6-2 conference record--best since 2012, the end of the "Elite Miles" years--and LSU getting to at least 8 wins has been the most reliable thing in the SEC this millennium. Their preseason ranking is fair imo. Lot of questions to answer, lots of room for disappointment, probably a year away, but should be a handful for anybody they play.
Auburn is probably fair enough as well. Malzahn is a good coach and they recruit well.
